


Family Crests

by roryteller



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-16
Updated: 2016-07-16
Packaged: 2018-07-24 09:35:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7503276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roryteller/pseuds/roryteller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Kara meets Kal-El and the Danvers family, is perplexed by human culture, and Alex laughs in her face (and then tries to help).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Family Crests

**Author's Note:**

> I originally wrote this a while back, but revamped it for the Summer of Supergirl event (week 1: Strangers to Sisters).

The first thing Kara sees when she lands on Earth is her family's crest, emblazoned on the burly chest of a man she doesn't recognize. She stares at him in shock and confusion—is it possible that another relative is here, besides Kal-El? Or could he be human? Humans look like Kryptonians, she knows that much.

The man holds out his hand to her and says something she can't understand, probably in one of the human languages.

“ _Rrov?”_ What?

“ _Nahn khuhp i threv Kal-El.”_ <My name is Kal-El,> he says slowly in Kryptonese, with a thick accent she can't place, as though he learned the language second- or third-hand, from recordings or a non-native speaker. <Who are you?>

“ _Nahn khuhp i threv_ _Kara Zor-El,”_ she says, introducing herself as well before adding,  <My cousin, Kal-El, is a baby. You can't be him.> But she looks from the crest he wears to his face, trying to see if he looks like a member of the family. He looks a lot like uncle Jor-El, especially his pale blue eyes and the shape of his chin, now that she's paying attention, though he's built like a warrior, not a scientist. And his hair is the same dark color as Aunt Lara's, with the same slight wave to it.

He crouches down to look at her—she still hasn't moved from her pod. <Well, I am Kal-El. I came here as a baby after Krypton was destroyed. Twenty-four years ago.>

She goggles at him. How is that possible? <But... I'm still a kid. I was _older_ than you, > she argues, with a glance down at her body to confirm that it's the same as she remembers.

<I know,> he replies, and holds out his hand again. <I don't know why it took you so long to get here, but we're going to figure that out. Okay?>

She nods and takes his hand, letting him help her up. Once upright, she looks around. She landed in the middle of a field of some sort of crops. In the last days on Krypton, after her parents decided to send her away, she'd read as much as she could about Earth, but right now she can't remember much of it. Maybe it's the shock of the landing, or of waking from stasis—usually she has a pretty good memory for facts—everyone says she has her grandfather Yar-El's brains, just like uncle Jor-El, though the old man died when she was little and by the time she met him the forgetting sickness had already claimed most of his memory. Thinking about that should make her feel sad, but instead she's just numb and confused.

Her eyes are already adjusting to the sunlight, which was nearly blinding at first, and she feels curiously light. She shouldn't have any powers yet, but one fact returns to her—Earth's gravity is slightly less than that of Krypton. Maybe that explains it.

The man who calls himself Kal-El bends down, reaches into his boot, and pulls out a small black rectangle, which has a small screen and a number of what appear to be buttons on it. He fiddles with it a bit and puts it to his ear, then speaks in the human language again. She belatedly recognizes it as English, and tries to see if she can understand any words, but the only one she catches is 'hello', which she knows is a greeting, a slightly less formal equivalent of _ehrosh :bem_. She knows her English isn't very good, but he also speaks it very quickly, more so than the few recordings her parents were able to find.

Kal-El seems pleased as he puts away the device. <I spoke with some friends of mine. They want to help you,> he says in his slow Kryptonese. <If you want, I can take you to meet them now.>

Kara has no idea what she wants, still in shock that her mission seems to have ended before it even began, but she nods.

She lets out a surprised squeak when he scoops her up in his arms and takes off flying. The air stings as it rushes over her skin, and she wraps her arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest.

After what seems like a long time they land in some sort of garden next to a small building—a house? There's a man and a woman standing nearby, waving at Kal, and when she looks up she sees a face surrounded by long brown hair vanish abruptly from a window.

Kal sets her down, but she hides behind him. The man and the woman are the first humans she's seen, and she doesn't know what to think.

<Kara, these are the friends I mentioned—Jeremiah Danvers and Eliza Danvers,> he says, indicating the man and the woman in turn. <They've offered to take care of you.>

She looks up in shock at that. <You're not going to?> It would be weird, being raised by her little cousin, but at least he's _family_.

He sighs. <Kara, I cannot afford to raise a child right now. And it is safer for you here. I have enemies. I will stay tonight, if I can, and visit. I promise.>

<Okay,> she says, though it feels like losing her family _again_. She steps out from behind Kal, trying to remember how to introduce herself in English. “Hello,” she manages.

“Hello,” say the man and woman in chorus, looking a bit surprised.

“Is my name Kara Zor-El,” she adds, then looks up to Kal. <Was that right?> she asks in Kryptonese.

<Almost,> he says. <You made it sound like a question, though.>

The woman, Eliza, leans down and says something to Kara, but the only word she understands is 'mother'. Kara looks to Kal and he translates, haltingly.

“Thank you,” she says, and she's not sure if it came out right, but Eliza nods. Then she looks up at Kal again. <She's nice, but I don't understand her.>

<They can read Kryptonese,> he replies, <and you'll learn English. I know this is scary, but you'll be okay. Come, you should meet their daughter.>

<Their daughter?> echoes Kara, thinking of the face in the window.

* * *

 

The face turns out to belong to a girl a bit older than Kara, one with long brown hair and an unfriendly scowl that vanishes at some scolding words from Eliza.

“Hi,” says the girl, her hands in her pockets. “I'm Alex.”

Kara understands every word of that, and it's almost enough to make her smile. Almost, because everything is still scary and the destruction of Krypton is a weight so heavy she doesn't know how she's carrying it, can't quite believe it even happened. “I'm Kara,” she says, hoping that by echoing the other girl's words she'll get the order right this time. But the girl just turns away and says something to Jeremiah and Kara gives up on understanding.

Kal pats Kara on the shoulder. <See? You can do it. Wait here.> He disappears into another room and comes back wearing human clothing. It's weird, there's no house crest on it. It makes him look like a nobody, instead of a member of the House of El.

Kara traces the crest on her dress. They're probably going to make her dress like one of them soon, too.

* * *

 

Kal stays for dinner, explaining the utensils and foods to Kara. The food is weird and she picks at it, eating only a little. The adults at the table seem concerned but she can't bring herself to care. She can't participate in the conversation, but she catches a word here and there, and Alex keeps shooting her glances, though she can't tell if the other girl is more resentful or curious. Maybe both.

After dinner Kal explains that Kara will get her own room tomorrow, but tonight she'll stay with Alex. Alex grumbles something under her breath but leads Kara up the stairs anyway.

Kara likes Alex's room—it's got a big window that overlooks the garden and it's full of neat stuff. She has a shelf of cool rocks and fossils, what looks to be a primitive computer, some old and well-loved toys, and various scientific apparatuses, which Kara will later recognize as a telescope and a microscope, among others. There's an old, somewhat battered wooden desk with a somewhat lopsided clay mug full of writing implements and a shelf of books in English. After a couple of tries, Kara gives up on deciphering the titles.

Alex walks up to a big, solid-looking chest of drawers and digs around inside it for a few moments before pulling out a shirt. It's sort of a faded deep blue, with short sleeves and stylized lettering across the chest. She holds it up, looks at it, then at Kara, then tosses it to her.

Kara catches it and traces the letters. Is this the Danvers family crest? She tries to ask Alex, but Alex frowns at her, not seeming to understand, and says something Kara doesn't catch.

When Kara doesn't reply, Alex sighs and strides over to her desk, retrieving a pen and a pad of paper. Frowning in concentration, she writes a note, then hands it to Kara.

Kara almost cries in relief. It's in Kryptonese. Broken Kryptonese, sure, worse than Kal's, and with awful handwriting, but Kryptonese all the same. She reads it to herself.

Shirt yours. Talk fast.

Kara interprets that as 'too fast', and holds her hand out for the pen, tucking the shirt under her arm. Thanks for the shirt, she writes. Is that your family crest?

Alex reads the note and frowns at her until she unfolds the shirt and points at the word. Then Alex's eyebrows shoot up and she bursts out laughing.

“ _Zha_ ,” she manages to say between gasps, the first Kryptonese word Kara ever hears her say. “ _Zha_.”

“No?” asks Kara in her limited English, perplexed.

Alex goes over to her desk again, reaches inside one of the drawers and pulls out a small, squarish object with the same lettering on it, as well as a drawing of some kind of yellow creature with a zig-zaggy tail, but that doesn't help Kara at all.

It's not until the following morning that Kara understands her mistake, when Alex sits her down in front of a video screen and makes her watch a show about a human boy and a bunch of weird monsters over breakfast.


End file.
